Cuixmala: Winter Sun Hideaway

On Mexico’s Costa Alegre, where the jungle tumbles down to the Pacific shore, lies Cuixmala. Part-hotel-part-private-residence, the estate (founded by James Goldsmith) spans a 30,000 acre nature reserve, encompassing coconut palm groves, lagoons, sweeping savannah and grasslands. Casa Cuixmala is at the heart, a sun-bleached yellow domed residence housing four spacious, white-washed suites, with palatial steps leading down to the hotel’s iconic saltwater pool on the beach. Four private villas with pools offer similar splendour, while dotted inland are the more traditional casitas, decorated with Mexican arts, crafts and antiques, their azure-blue shutters opening to views of the palm groves and ocean beyond.  

The estate is for exploring - a horseback trek alongside zebras in the savannah, a croc-spotting boat trip through the lagoon, a guided hike through the coconut groves, or setting sail on Cuixmala’s 42ft yacht Mercury. Nature is paramount and none more so than on the estate’s organic and biodynamic farm that provides and inspires the restaurants’ seasonal menus, as well as those of sister property Hacienda de San Antonio, a former coffee plantation in the foothills of the Colimo Volcano - an excursion in itself. For a heightened sense of escape, there’s the hotel’s bamboo yoga and meditation studio, built by the property’s workshop that handles the some 60 different species of sustainable bamboo grown at Cuixmala - a recurring design feature throughout.